Richard Walker has written many books for all age groups in the areas of natural history, human biology and science, including Microscopic Life in the Kingfisher Knowledge series, which was shortlisted for the 2005 Aventis Prize for Science Books Junior Prize. He has a BSc and PhD in zoology, in which he studied parasitology, and he spent several years teaching biology and science in London schools before becoming a full-time writer. Richard won the 2002 Aventis Prize for Science Books Junior Prize. Denise Grady is a writer for the New York Times science news department. She has won many awards for her journalistic contributions to science and medicine.

1 HALF TITLE; 2-3 TITLE; 4-5 IMPRINT & CONTENTS; 6 FOREWORD; 7 CHAPTER ONE: Death and disease; 8-9 First epidemics; 10-11 Powerful pathogens; 12-13 Person to person; 14-15 Defence force; 16-17 Disease detectives; 18-19 Childhood scourges; 20-21 Bad eating; 22-23 Famine and blight; 24 Summary and information panel; 25 CHAPTER TWO: Plagues and pestilence; 26-27 The Black Death; 28-29 Medieval sickness; 30-31 The great pox; 32-33 Vulnerable to attack; 34-35 Plague in London; 36 Summary and information panel; 37 CHAPTER THREE: Old and new; 38-39 White death; 40-41 Pandemic cholera; 42-43 Public health; 44-45 Endemic diseases; 46-47 Colds and flu; 48-49 Fatal flu; 50-51 Beating smallpox; 52-53 Germ warfare; 54-55 HIV and AIDS; 56-57 Future epidemics; 58 Summary and information panel; 59-61 Glossary; 62-63 Index; 64 Acknowledgements.